1. Technical Field
One or more embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and devices for cooling computing devices. More specifically, one or more embodiments of the present disclosure relate to server cooling systems and devices.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Conventional server systems often include various server devices operating in a compact space. Each of the server devices can have multiple components (e.g., processors, memory, storage) that may operate for long periods of time and process large amounts of data. During operation, server device components may often generate unwanted amounts of heat. Unregulated, the generated heat can reduce processing efficiency and/or cause permanent damage due to the overheating of components within a server device. To regulate component temperature, a server device typically includes a cooling system to increase processing efficiency and to prevent the server device components from overheating. Thus, cooling systems can protect the server device components, as well as increase the efficiency of the server device.
Conventional cooling systems, however, suffer from a number of limitations and drawbacks. For example, space constraints inherent to most server devices complicate efforts to cool server device components due to the compact nature of the server device. For example, traditional cooling systems can include a fan that, because of space limitations, is small and/or poorly located. An undersized or poorly positioned fan may not ensure efficient and effective air circulation throughout the server device.
The lower efficiency of many conventional cooling systems can reduce the efficiency of the entire server device. For example, the lower the efficiency of the cooling system for a server device, the lower the amount of heat the cooling system is able to extract from the server device. In many instances, therefore, the limitations of conventional cooling systems also limit the performance of the server device itself. For instance, due to the limited amount of heat that a conventional cooling system can extract from a server device, the processors and other components of the server device are limited to operating below a maximum performance level.
Due to the poor cooling efficiency of many conventional cooling systems, as described above, other conventional cooling systems include larger cooling devices (e.g., larger fan) and/or multiple cooling devices to increase the capabilities of the cooling system. Adding larger devices or additional devices, however, may cause additional disadvantages. For example, increasing the size of one or more cooling devices can cause additional space constraints within the server device, thereby decreasing the space available to provide the volumetric flow rate of air needed for efficient cooling of the server device components. In addition, increasing the size or adding additional cooling devices to a server device may increase the overall size of the server device, which in turn decreases the number of server devices that can be used within a given space (e.g., server room).
Moreover, due to the complexity of conventional cooling systems, a technician may have difficulty performing maintenance on the server device. For example, typical server devices may become so crowded by the cooling system that significant time is needed to remove or reposition the cooling system devices to allow the technician to replace or upgrade the sever device components. The additional time a technician needs to perform server device maintenance and/or upgrade server device components may lead to longer server device down times in the event of a component failure, and increases operating cost of the sever device in general.
Accordingly, there are a number of considerations to be made in cooling server devices and systems.